A seven-yearold boy was allegedly sexually abused and then murdered at a plot near his house in Pahadishareef on Wednesday night.

The victim was pursuing class 2 at a local school in Pahadesharif. The boy’s family stays at Wadi-e-Mustafa Colony in Pahadesharif. The vitim’s father is a centring worker.

Around 9 pm on Wednesday, the boy requested his father to give him money to purchase mango-flavoured drink, Frooti. The father obliged to the request and gave him money. The victim left the house to purchase the soft drink, but he did not return home.

As the shop was close to their house, the victim’s father waited for about 15 minutes and then went in search of the boy.

“The father of the victim wanted to enquire at the nearby shops. But, while going towards the shops, he saw a crowd had gathered near a plot. He approached them and saw his boy lying dead on the floor,” Balapur inspector V Saidulu said.

Police were immediately alerted about the offence and cops reached the crime scene.

“The body was found at the plot owned by one Khaja Moinuddin. The unknown assailant slammed the boy’s head to the floor and killed him on the spot. While the boy was forcibly being taken inside the plot, one Rehana Begum, who was in the adjacent building, heard him crying and looked in that direction. She saw a man taking the boy into bushes in the plot and thought he was trying to chase away a dog which was attacking the boy,” assistant commisioner of police, Vanasthalipuram, C Gandhinarayana said. Later some other locals saw the suspect running away from the plot and then saw the body of the boy. Cops shifted the body to Osmania Genearl Hospital for an autopsy.

“Doctors, who performed the autopsy, said the boy was sodomised. We have formed special teams to nab the offender,” the assistant commissioner of Police said.